The seven UK cities in the running to host Eurovision in 2023 have been confirmed.
Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield will now battle it out to stage next year’s Song Contest after being shortlisted by Eurovision organisers.
Prior to this, it had been reported that Aberdeen, Belfast, Brighton, Bristol, Darlington and London were all on the longlist.
Radio 2 presenter and Eurovision superfan Scott Mills explained on Friday morning that a total of 20 cities in the UK initially expressed interest in hosting the competition next year.
These were then narrowed down to seven based on their “capability, capacity and experience to host an event like this”.
“Some people rubbish the Eurovision Song Contest, but it’s huge,” Scott said. “It’s a beast, it’s big and it’s complicated.
“But also [Eurovision needs] cities that have a passion to put on an event like this. And being able to host a celebration of modern music.”
The UK was invited to host the annual event last month after organisers ruled out the possibility of it being staged in Ukraine, who won this year’s Eurovision.
Scott Mills added that the ability to “showcase Ukrainian culture and music on TV” would also be a criteria when organisers choose the host city for 2023.
Kate Phillips, the BBC’s director of unscripted content, said: “We have seven fantastic cities who we are taking through to the next round... it’s exciting to see such a breadth of bids going through from across the UK.
“We are committed to delivering a truly unique Song Contest that celebrates wonderful Ukraine and champions British music and creativity in all its diversity.”
Earlier this year, the European Broadcasting Union conducted a “full assessment and feasibility study” with UA:PBC as to whether it could go ahead in Ukraine amid Russia’s on-going invasion.
However, it concluded that after “exploring all scenarios” with the network, they shared “their sadness and disappointment” it could not go ahead.
Both the Ukrainian state broadcaster UA: PBC and 2022 Eurovision winners Kalush Orchestra voiced their “disappointment” at the decision, with the broadcaster claiming the EBU had “denied Ukraine the right to host Eurovision 2023”.
It was previously confirmed that UA: PBC will work with the BBC to develop Ukrainian elements of the 2023 show, after the UK finished second in the 2022 Contest with entrant Sam Ryder’s song Space Man.
Ukraine will also automatically qualify for the final stage of the contest, along with the so-called “Big 5”, which are the countries that financially contribute the most towards the event (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK).
The 67th Eurovision Song Contest will take place in May 2023.